Of Witches & Hunters
by Catalyst56
Summary: Star Butterfly & Marco Diaz: they are two of the most well-known witch hunters in the world. They've been trained by the best, and they are the best at hunting witches. However, as the annual Blood Moon approaches, the two fight a new formidable evil, one who holds the key to their pasts, pasts in which both are unwilling to face. Rated M for safety.
1. Prologue - The Origin of Star & Marco

**AN: This idea has been invading my mind for months now. This idea still hasn't left my mind, and I finally decide to act on it. So welcome to my new story: Of Witches & Hunters! In this story, this is my take on a Witch Hunters AU of SVTFOE, inspired by both Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters & The Last Witch Hunter. This story is set in a modern setting with a few medieval elements mixed in.**

 **Hope you all enjoy.**

 _ **Disclaimer: Star vs. the Forces of Evil is owned by Disney and Daron Nefcy. I also do not own The Last Witch Hunter.**_

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 **Prologue - The Origin of Star Butterfly & Marco Diaz**

In a dark forest, where things can get really creepy, especially in the dead of night, you can easily and obviously get lost.

On one side of said forest, there is 10-year old Marco Diaz and his mother, Angie Diaz, walking through the forest, as she led her son somewhere in the place.

On another side, 10-year old Star Butterfly was being led by her father, River Butterfly, through the same forest.

Both kids felt scared.

"Mom, where are you taking me?" Marco asked. Angie said nothing as they continued walking through the forest. "I'm scared, mom. What's going on?" He asked again, shaking. Angie held his hand, and turned to him. "You'll be okay, my son. You'll be safe." She responded, in a kind, motherly tone.

"Dad, why are we here?" Star nervously asked her dad. River turned to look at her, and smiled. "Don't worry, Star. I'm taking you somewhere safe." He said, as he turned back and continued walking, with the 8-year old girl following her father.

Eventually, both sides stopped walking. The parents turned to their kids, and abruptly ran.

"Mom!/Dad!" They both cried out towards their retreating figures. Realizing that both of them had no other choice, they both began to walk at the same time.

Eventually, both of them stumbled upon a candy house, and each other.

"Ooof!" They both said as the landed on the ground.

"Sorry." Marco said to her as he stood up. He offered his hand.

"No, it should be me who's apologizing." Star said as she took his hand and stood up.

They both turned to the candy house. Their mouths watered at the edible-looking furnishings outside. Without warning, they both started to dig in on the house.

What they didn't notice however, is a witch who opened her door outside. The witch was frail-looking, sickly, and extremely whitish. She was also blind. What she made up for her blindness was her sense of hearing.

She silently sneaked upon the two kids, and took them both into her grasp as she went back inside the candy house.

Immediately she bound the arms of the two and placed the two in separate cages as she prepared a fire in her oven.

While preparing, Star looked at Marco. "Hey, just in case we don't survive, can you tell me your name?" She asked.

"Sure. Marco Diaz." He said.

"Star Butterfly. Wait, aren't you his son?!"

"Yeah, I'm the son of Rafael Diaz, the famous warlock."

"Wow..."

"Not exactly 'wow', if you ask me."

"What led you to be here?"

"I got abandoned by my mom. You?"

"Same... only with dad this time."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

They then heard the crashing of pans as they turned to see the blind witch grunt.

"Stupid pots & pans..." She said. She then turned to Marco, while holding a sickly sweet cupcake. She first held Marco's arms. "Hmm... definitely need to fatten him up... too bony..." She then shoved the cupcake onto Marco's arms.

"Eat..." She said as she looked at Marco, despite her blindness. When she didn't hear him, she said again, this time in a more forceful shriek, "EAT!"

This time, Marco followed the instruction, but he kept the contents in his mouth, refusing to swallow them.

"Good..." The witch said as she sadistically smiled at him. She then turned to Star, who was trying to escape her confinements.

"Help me..." The witch said as she laughed and then opened the door and dragged Star out of the cage. She pointed to the scattered pots and pans, and Star then went to them, all the while secretly trying to figure out how to get out of these confinements. While the witch was distracted, Marco spat out the cupcake he had eaten.

The witch then turned to Marco, and again took hold of his arms. "Good enough..."

She opened the door, and dragged Marco out. However, Star was able to get out of her confinements, and pushed the witch off of Marco. The witch screamed as she performed dark magic on the pots and pans. The pots and pans then magically levitated, and began to go after Star and Marco. Their eyes widened, and began to try and dodge the pots and pans hurled at them. They mostly succeeded, with only a few bruises. However, they didn't anticipate the dark magic blast which struck them, but it felt like as if it was nothing.

However, the witch, from behind, took ahold of Marco, and she sadistically laughed.

"Maybe I'll just shove you in the oven!" She said as she held him at knifepoint.

Star had to think fast. Noticing that the pots and pans stopped levitating and are on the ground, harmless, she took one of them and threw it at the witch, hitting her on the head. She cried out in pain, and let go of Marco.

She was only a few feet behind the oven, and Marco thought of an idea. "Star!" He said, gesturing her to help him. They then pushed the witch towards the open oven. They pushed her in, and immediately locked the door. They immediately leaned from the door, sighed, and breathed deeply. They heard the witch's screams of pain, and they both turned to look at her, a hand reaching out to the glass.

"How does it feel now, bitch!" Star said.

"Hahaha, yeah!" Marco said.

"And to think you two ten-year olds were able to take down a witch on your own." A new voice appeared as the duo heard footsteps. They cautiously turned around to see the source of the voice.

It was a bald man, who looked like he was in his mid-30's, with a black coat over his black t-shirt and black slacks. He was also wearing black leather shoes. On his back were two weapons of sorts.

"Who are you?" Marco asked. Kaulder chuckled.

"Getting to the point, huh kid? Very well."

He walked forward towards the two, and placed his weapons on the table.

"I'm Kaulder."

Their eyes widened. They've heard of his name before. He was The Last Witch Hunter of myths and legends.

"I... I... what..." Star stuttered.

"What... what brings you to Echo Creek?" Marco asked, also shaking.

"I came here because I was supposed to complete a contract, which involved killing the witch you two just killed." The legendary witch hunter said.

"And it seems that he came here too late." Another voice appeared.

The new voice belonged to a young man in his early twenties, with shaggy-looking hair, wearing a white t-shirt, denim pants, and sneakers.

"You're a bit late yourself, Dolan." Kaulder said.

"Apologies, Kaulder. Got a bit held up." He said.

The duo gasped at Dolan.

"Which Dolan are you?" Star asked. Dolan smiled.

"I'm the 40th Dolan."

"Both of you seemed shocked to see us." Kaulder calmly said.

"Well... we read those stories and myths and legends about you, Mister Kaulder. Some say that you defeated a coven of witches. On others, it's said that you successfully hunted the Witch Queen, and on another one..." Star was then cut off by Kaulder.

"I know. I've heard the stories." He said in a calm tone. He turned to Dolan, who shrugged. He turned back to the duo.

"I saw the dark magic blast that hit you two. Did you two feel anything?" He asked them.

"No... nothing of the sort." Marco said.

"Hmmm... that is strange." Dolan said.

"Strange indeed." Kaulder said.

"Aren't you guys going to go now, now that we killed the witch?" Star asked. Dolan then turned to Kaulder.

"Kaulder, you've lived your life long enough now. You've done so much. Maybe it's time to pass on." Dolan whispered to Kaulder.

 _'Hmmm... it has been too long now. I've been through a lot of the world now. I've seen so much now. Maybe Dolan's right. It's time I pass on my legacy.'_ Kaulder thought.

"Not yet. I realized something about you two."

"What is it?" Marco asked.

"I see a lot of potential in you two. Why don't I train you two under my wing?"

To say that they were both shocked was an understatement.

"You mean..." Star said.

"... that you're going to train us..." Marco continued.

"... as witch hunters?!" They both finished.

"That about serves it right." Kaulder said.

"But Star... what happened to our parents? Don't you think we should check?"

Star shook her head. She said, "Honestly Marco, considering that our respective parents left us in the forest to probably die, I don't think I want to know anymore." That stunned Marco to silence.

"My offer still stands, you two." Kaulder said.

After a few minutes of thinking, Star had her answer.

"I'll take that offer. By the way, I'm Star Butterfly."

"Um... is your friend alright?" Dolan asked in concerned. Star shrugged.

"Eh, I think he'll be fine."

Marco then looked at Dolan, then at Star, and then at Kaulder.

"I accept. My name is Marco Diaz."

That caused Kaulder to raise his eyebrow.

 _'Hmmm... so he's 'that' kid. Rafael's son...'_

Kaulder shook those thoughts off of his mind.

"Alright you two. This training won't be easy, I'll tell you. It'll be hell, and back again. Are you both sure about this?" He asked, only needing one final confirmation from the two.

The two whispered to one another.

"Are you really sure about this, Star?"

"Positive."

Marco sighed. They turned to Kaulder and Dolan.

"We said it before, and we'll say it again." Star said.

"We accept." They said at the same time.

And so begins the transformation of Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, from abandoned ten-year old strangers to esteemed witch bounty hunters.

Their lives are about to take a whole new turn...

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 **AN: So that's the end of the prologue. I only hope that this turned out to be okay. Anyway, please do review. It helps out a ton. Also, if you think that this is a crossover between Star vs. the Forces of Evil and The Last Witch Hunter, it isn't. Kaulder and Dolan are only in this fic for a short amount of time.**

 **That's it from me, and until then, I'll see you all in the next chapter.**


	2. A New Contract

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Star vs.. I wish I could, though.**_

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 **Chapter 1 - A New Contract**

The trap is set. They know what to do. The plan is ready to be put in motion.

"So, Star, ready?" Marco asked, turning to her and grinning.

"Oh hell yes, Marco." Star said, turning to him and grinning as well.

Star and Marco have grown over the past eleven years.

No longer the Safe Kid he's been called for, Marco is now more daring and confident. He's still cautious, but he's kept that down to careful planning of hunting and capturing witches, as most if the witches they've faced are formidable. One mistake could cost them dearly. His physical features have improved over the years of physical training he received from his mentor, along with his strength, also becoming a very handsome man. He's trained himself, with assistance from Star and Kaulder, in archery, trapmaking, and bladefighting, with trapmaking his best attribute.

Star's biggest change had been her physical prowess. Contradicting her headstrong attitude, is her training in stealth, which requires patience and silence, something which she didn't have at first. However, her cleverness rivals that of Marco's. She has also been trained in bladefighting along with him. As for her unique base of training, she trained herself, with assistance from Marco and Kaulder, in alchemy. That is, the making of potions and poisons. Her physical feattures had changed and improve, turning her into an extremely beautiful young woman.

Both had also been trained in Kalder's own fighting style, as he wanted both of them to at least have knowledge of close quarters combat, should their enemies get very close to them, and also as a way of self-defense. They had also been trained in the art of explosives.

Anyways, they turned back to the door.

"Let me go first, Star."

"Alright Marco."

Marco then pressed his hand to the door.

"Three..."

"Two..."

"ONE!" Marco kicked the door open, revealing a dark-haired witch working on her cauldron. She sees them, and snarls.

"Why do all of you guys do that?" Marco rhetorically asked, and took out his auto-fire crossbow, and began to shoot at the witch, who ran and jumped to dodge the arrows.

The witch shot out dark magic at Marco, who dodged it with ease. He sheathed his auto-fire crossbow, and took out his sabre. He swings and slashes at the witch, who deflects them with her own arms, enhanced with armor magic.

"Your blades will not work on me, boy!" The witch said, who begins to strike back.

Marco senses the tide changing, and takes out a smoke bomb as he shouted, "You're up, Star!" He then throws it down to the ground, which releases the smoke. The witch coughs from the smoke, and once it clears, Marco has disappeared.

"Do you really think you can hide for long, boy?!" The witch exclaims, and Star responds, "You're not dealing with him anymore." She drops from above the witch, and at the last minute, the witch blocks the strike, as Star said, "You're dealing with me!" She overpowers the witch's block, and the witch transforms into dust.

Star lands on the ground with a thud. She stood up, and looks around.

"I know you're here somewhere." She said, as she closed her eyes.

She senses the witch charge at her as she turns back into her normal form, and she slashes at the witch's legs, causing it to bleed. "Got you!"

The witch growls, as she holds her legs. She senses something very wrong. She asks her, "What did you do to me?! I can't feel my legs!"

Star smirked. "Oh nothing... just that I laced my blades with a paralysis poison. I also added a bit of a heal-resistant poison. Doesn't do damage, but it will stop the healing on your wounds, also leaving your legs to bleed out!" She chuckles.

"DAMN YOU FOR THIS! YOU AND THAT BOY!" She said, and, despite the pain, released her strongest dark magic attack, which happens to be a concussive ray blast which may also kill.

"You witches never learn." Star said, and crouches down, dodging the ray. The ray hits something, which reflects it back towards the witch. The witch gasps, and says, in shock, "How..." before she is struck with the ray blast, knocking her unconscious.

Marco reappears, and looks at the unconscious form of the witch, and smirks. "That trap was well-set."

Star also turns to the unconscious witch, and explains, "See, before we opened the door to face you, Marco set up a clear reflective mirror trap, which, as it's described, reflects any type of blast back. You didn't see it, because it's so clear that it's undetectable with the naked eye."

Marco slung the unconscious witch onto his shoulder.

"Let's get going." He said, as they both walked out of the witch's lair.

They returned to the town minutes later. They then collected their bounty, and left the town, not bothering to witness the burning.

As they walked away, they heard a beeping.

"Oh, we got a message." Star said, and took out her laptop as they stopped at a coffee shop. While Marco ordered coffee, Star opened her laptop and checked their messages.

"So, what's up?" Marco asked as he handed her a mocha frappucino as he drank his iced mocha peppermint coffee.

"Well, it seems we have another contract up." Star said.

"Well, where's the origin?"

"Echo Creek."

Marco's eyes widened.

"Really? It's been a long time since we've been there."

"I know. But no time like the present to get back home once more."

Marco sips his coffee. He raises his eyebrow at it.

"Is it just me, or something's very wrong with my coffee... it tastes different." Marco said and threw it to the trash bin.

Star sipped hers. "Well, mine's okay so far... never mind. Mine tastes funny too." Star said and threw hers to the trash bin as well.

"Let's get going."

A week passed. They arrived at Echo Creek.

"So, we're back. I can't believe that it's been so long since we left." Marco said as they entered the town.

"I know. But I'll always have this place in my heart." Star said, smiling at the memories she had of her former home.

"Well, we can't reminisce the past right now, Star. We've got business to do."

"Right. Let's head to the mayor's office then."

They entered the city hall and into the mayor's office.

"Ah, good. You two are now here." The mayor said.

"Hello mayor. Did the last one retire? I remember Mayor Skeeves back then."

"Ah yes, Mayor Skeeves. He was a good mayor. He did retire just recently, and I took up the mantle of mayor a few months after."

"So who are you then?" Marco asked.

"I'm Mayor Ludo."

"Ah, well, good to meet you, Mayor Ludo." The duo shook hands with Ludo.

"So, what is the situation?" Star asked. Ludo scratched his chin.

"Well, over the past few months, we've had kids of varying ages, all below ten, abducted by witches. However, I am suspecting that all of this is actually planned by one witch. And it is one of the former residents of this town."

"Do you know who, then, mayor?" Marco asked.

"I've had my suspicions over the past few months as well, and I feel that it's Brittany Wong. Recently, she had shown interest in the occult and witchcraft, and she often isolated herself from the outisde world. Eventually, when we came to see her, she was gone, and the interior of the house was, in simple terms, destroyed, with writings of incantations, spells, etcetera, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well."

"Hmm... well you've given us a starting point. Can we go and see Brittany's house?"

"You have my permission." Ludo said. The two nodded.

"Thank you, mayor. We'll let you know if anything comes up." Star said.

"I thank you two as well, Star, Marco. You have my sincerest gratitude for taking up the contract."

"Don't worry mayor, we'll be able to solve this." Marco said, and the two left.

 _'I do hope that you two do solve this. If not, I may fear the worst for this town.'_ Ludo sadly thought.

As they got out, though, they heard a loud voice boom through a loudspeaker.

"WITCH! WE HAVE CAPTURED A WITCH!"

Without hesitation, they ran towards the source of the voice.

There, at the stage, they saw two people hold a girl, roughly about the same age as the two, and a crowd in front of them.

Marco gasped as he saw the girl.

"No way... Jackie?!" He said in shock. Inwardly, he thought, _'She's still so beautiful...'_

The girl, Jackie Lynn-Thomas, struggled against the grip of the two people holding her.

"Is she a witch?" Marco asked Star. She shook her head.

"No. Witches have a very distinct scent and aura around them, and Jackie doesn't have both." Star said.

"Yeah, you're right. Still, shouldn't we at least check her physically for signs?"

"Why Marco, are you sure you're doing this because you want to make sure, or you just really want to feel her touch?" Star mischievously asked, as she sported a similarly mischievous grin.

Marco stammered and blushed. "N-no, of course not! I just want to make sure."

"Even after eleven years Marco, you're still crushing on her hard." Star laughed.

Marco sighed.

"Whatever, Star. Let's just do this." He said, and walked forward.

"Hold on! On what grounds do you have on capturing this so-called witch?" He asked.

"Who are you and what grounds do _you_ have on interfering with our business?" The lead officer asked and took out his gun and pointed it at Marco.

However, he felt a blade on his head.

"You shoot my best friend, and I will fucking cut your head off."

Marco then checked Jackie for physical signs.

"Marco? Is that you?" Jackie asked, in shock.

"Yeah, Jackie. It's me."

"So, if you fuckers don't know yet, I'm Star Butterfly." She said, and she turned to the crowd. "And the man checking Jackie is Marco Diaz."

"We're here at the request of Mayor Ludo, who wanted us to see into the predicament our old town is in. And also, we wanted to see our old home again."

Marco finished checking on Jackie. He walked to Star, and shook his head.

"No signs. She is definitely not a witch."

Star smiled. She turned to the officers.

"Now, let her go." And they did.

The lead officer sighed and turned to Star. "I guess we've been mistaken."

Marco smiled. "Don't worry. We've seen many similar mistakes like that in other towns. We saved a lot of innocents from being wrongfully killed."

"Forgive us for what we did."

"All is forgiven, officer."

The crowd dispersed, and the officers left.

The two turned to Jackie.

"Long time no see, Jackie." Star said.

"Yeah, same to you too, Star." Jackie said. She turned to Marco.

"I have to ask again: Is it really you, Marco?" She asked.

Marco smiled at her. "It is me, Jackie. It really is me."

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 **AU: Right then. Been quite a while since I've made another chapter for this story. Either way, I have one now, and that's what matters.**

 **So, review, and I'll see you all again in the next chapter. Until then.**


	3. The Witch's House

**AU: So, I'm really, really, REALLY sorry that I haven't posted another chapter in this story since my last update. I was going through a tough time, and I couldn't really focus on writing. But now, I'm back. And I'm back with a new chapter for this story. To those who have waited and waited for a new chapter, here it is. And to those just starting out, don't worry. My updates are a bit sketchy, but hopefully it won't be this long.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

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 **Chapter 2 - The Witch's House**

Aside from the three of them, no one else remained after the short confrontation the witch hunting duo had with the police. Marco remembered about what they were supposed to do, and gestured at Star.

"Oh, right! We have to go Jackie. We have an investigation to do." Star told Jackie.

Marco and Star walked off, before Jackie stopped them.

"Wait... before you guys get going on your search, can we talk? I just want to catch up with you two." Jackie said to them. Star and Marco turned towards each other. Star shrugged. Marco then turned to her.

"Sure, why not. I guess we have time. Let's find a place to chat first." Marco said.

"We could go to the park. There's not much people there at this time of the day." Jackie suggested.

"Alright. Let's go then." Star said, and they walked off.

* * *

"So, I assume you've already met Mayor Ludo and discussed with him the situation we're having." Jackie said. The trio were sitting at a park bench, as they decided to talk first before checking out Brittney's house.

"Yeah, we have." Star said.

"We were planning to go there after we went to find someplace to eat, and then you know what happened next." Marco said. Jackie nodded.

"Right. So tell me, what's up with you two since you guys left?"

"Well, you know... after we had left Echo Creek, we immediately went to training from Kaulder. We didn't begin with combat training, though." Star said.

"Yeah. We actually had biological training first. Basically, we had been taught the vital signs of identifying a witch, the mannerisms, the strengths, the weaknesses, basically ever single aspect that's important to witch hunting."

"The business of obtaining contracts to hunt them are relatively simple, as explained to us by Dolan. I mean, whenever we hear of a contract either via the job boards all over the world or by email, you just go to the place, work out the terms, and boom, we're hired. So we didn't really have any problems with that. The only concern for us, but only a small one, is the funds for our weapons. But, aside from that, we were good from that part."

"The third part of our training was basically a journey around the world. We went through the different main cities, the habitats, the environments, and all that. The purpose of this part of training was to prepare us for being ready to fight at any place, and also to know most of the places we're going."

"So, based on that third portion, you guys are wandering witch hunters?" Jackie asked. They both nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much. Being stationary is bad for us, as it's risky having a permanent place, but we're okay with traveling around, as the travel helps us not only keep ourselves fit, but also make things much quicker getting there, depending on the situation and our location at hand."

"Right, so... continue on." Jackie said.

"The three portions above took us two and a half years to complete. The combat training alone took almost four years for us to finish and master. The combat training portion had helped us choose which specialties to take. For me, I took archery, trapmaking, and bladefighting." Marco said.

"Yeah. For me, I took stealth, alchemy, and also bladefighting. However, we both took Kaulder's style of fighting. He was concerned for us when he saw that we didn't take a specialty that would help us if we were ever defenseless. Daily while we're on our stops, we usually spar, against each other, and against our mentor." Star said.

"Speaking of mentor, where is Kaulder?" Jackie asked.

Star and Marco both looked at each other, crestfallen, held each other's hand, and lowered their heads in sadness.

"He's gone." They both said. Jackie slightly widened her eyes.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." She said, only for Star to look at her and shake her head.

"No, it's okay. It's been almost five years since, and we've gotten over by now." She said.

"Still, I should've realized how too personal it is. You two have been close to him, along with his companion." Jackie said.

"We're fine, really." Marco said.

"Since then, we began witch hunting, and well, as the years pass, you know what happened." He continued.

"Right. Again, where are you guys going now?" She asked them.

"We're finding a place to stay, and, since we don't really want to head back to our homes, as there are simply too many memories there, we just want to find a place to sleep over for a while. But before that, we're going to find a place to eat and then head to Brittney's." Star explained.

"You can stay with me. You know, you guys can sleep at my house." Jackie said. The two incredulously looked at her.

"Are you serious?" Marco asked, to which Jackie shrugged.

"Eh, I'm fine with it. Janna occasionally comes by to stay, but for most of the time, I'm alone."

"Jackie?" Star called.

"Yes, Star?" She asked.

"Where are your parents?"

"Oh... they're dead. Sacrificed their lives to let me live." She sadly said, lowering her head in sadness. Star and Marco looked at each other, and both nodded. They wrapped their arms around her and hugged her.

They all spoke nothing, as they hugged each other and reminisced their memories of their close ones.

* * *

In all honesty, Jackie could not find a reason as to why she had willingly agreed to go with them to Brittney's house, and also allowing the two of them to stay with her for the time being. Did she do it because she had been bored? Was it because she had wanted companionship and/or closeness? Did she want to feel the exhilaration? Because she was curious about the two? Or maybe she was drawn to them, as she felt something in her thoughts to cause her to say those words?

She definitely thought it was most possibly a combination of the second and the last. Her parents had died four years back, leaving her alone. Janna is still her best friend, oftentimes visiting her, but even then, it wasn't exactly enough.

All this aside, since her parents' death, Jackie had been very lonely. All her thoughts were pushed aside as she and the two stopped at the intended location: Brittney's house.

"So, this is Brittney Wong's house." Marco said, looking at the structure in front of the trio.

The house still looked very beautiful, despite of whatever it was that happened to its owners. With its snow-colored exterior, mahogany doors, fibreglass windows, and a large black gate, it still looked like it has been taken care of everyday. However, that is what the outside appearance of the house. Jackie looked at it in admiration, as did Star.

"Even to this day, I'm still jealous of her." Jackie said.

"Yeah. But, we have a contract to fulfill, so we might as well get onto it." Star said, and she kicked open the gate. There, in front of them is a huge front yard, full of nothing but grass. There was nothing else in sight except for the house, which looked to be a few yards away.

"Nothing so far. Let's keep going." Marco said. However, they felt and heard a rumbling on the front yard. They stopped moving.

Trees then quickly rose up from the ground and shot spines of wood towards the trio. The witch hunting duo took out their weapons.

"Jackie, get behind us!" Star said, and Jackie did so. Star spun her sword as fast as she could, turning it into a heliblade, shielding the three. Marco then jumped on Star's shoulders and used his auto-crossbow, and began to shoot the wood spines that were shooting from above. The spines directly charging towards Star were all chopped up, and the spines from above were splintered.

That didn't stop as more simply replaced the destroyed ones, with some new ones as well, in different shapes, but still sharp. Star and Marco continued defending themselves, but they were straining, especially Star.

"I can't keep my arms up, Marco." Star said, slowing down her rotation. Marco looked down at Star as he kept shooting and reloading.

"I got this." Marco said. He took out a blue orb, and threw it, the orb landing a few inches away from them. He then shot an arrow towards the orb, and struck. The orb exploded, releasing a large blue dome, shielding the three. The spines were stopped as they struck the orb, leaving them stuck there. Star breathed in relief as she stopped rotating her sword.

"Phew. My arms were beginning to burn out..." She said, but Marco raised his hand, and she stopped.

"This isn't over yet." He said.

Out from the ground rose brown tree-like humanoid creatures. Out from the trees came various tree-like animalistic creatures. Their glowing red eyes stared at the trio and the dome.

"Damn. There's a lot of them." Marco said, looking at them in anger.

"Just our luck." Star said.

"What now?" Jackie asked them.

"As long as this dome holds, we should be able to recover and place traps." Marco said.

Suddenly, the dome disappeared.

 _'SHIT!'_ All three thought. The creatures began to charge after them.

"Change of plans. Star, take Jackie to a safe place where she can hide. I'll hold them off until you come back." Marco said.

"Right! This won't take long. Come on Jackie, let's go!" Star said, taking Jackie's hand. They then ran off and jumped. Marco narrowed his eyes as he looked at the creatures charging towards him.

 _'Can't fight them in long distance.'_ Marco thought. _'In that case...'_ He then took out a smoke bomb and dropped it, releasing a plume of smoke, enveloping the area around Marco.

He took out his sword, Dancing Fire, and placed the tip on the ground. As the creatures neared, Marco spun around, as a swirl of fire surrounded him. He raised the sword, and the flames rose as well. He descended his sword, and the flames fired from different directions. Some of the flames passed through the creatures, and the resulting pass of flames caused the smoke around them and Marco to explode in a burning wildfire.

He looked around and smirked at his work. "Heh. That smoke is made to turn into wildfire when fire comes into contact. No one should survive that..." He said, however, he noticed shadows getting darker and darker.

"What?!" Marco exclaimed, shocked.

The creatures leaped out of the fire and one was headed into Marco's direction. Marco barely had the time to react as he raised his sword up, blocking the attack. He noticed that the creatures are not brown anymore, but of orange. He also felt heat radiating from the attacking creature.

 _'Of course! These creatures can resist and absorb fire! Damn it!'_

Marco crouched down and threw the attacking creature backwards. He stood and surveyed the current area. The fire had gone out, but his attackers still remained.

"Damn. I think I made them stronger now." Marco mused to himself as he noticed all the wood creatures burning, but not dying.

 _'I could really use Star's help right about now...'_ Marco thought, as he sheathed Dancing Fire and took out his twin daggers. He took a stance, and then leaped onto them. He twisted and spun his body, and his daggers lengthened and turned into axes. Quite literally, he became a whirlwind of blades.

The wood-formed beings received the attack in the form of various slashes and cuts across their bodies, but their wounds were quickly healed by the fire on their bodies. However, Marco was not stopping for any moment, despite that he noticed their regeneration.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Marco fought off the tree creatures, Star and Jackie were running off for them to hide Jackie.

"Okay, where do we go now?" Star pondered as they ran.

"Um, Star?" Jackie called her.

"Yes, Jackie?" She asked back.

"Look behind us!" She said. Star did look back, and she saw vines and sentient plants. They were rapidly approaching them despite their speed. Star's eyes widened, and she looked down on her boots. She pressed on the heels. The boots glowed. She grinned.

She then turned to Jackie. "Hop on my back." She said to her. Jackie did so. Star continued running, but this time, fire sprouted, and she became faster. The plants and vines are still catching up to them, but the fire burned them up.

However still, more kept on approaching them.

"There's still more!" Jackie said. Star looked back. The sight confirmed Jackie's words.

"Damn..." She muttered. She then reached into her bag, and took out a spherical glass container containing a dark orange liquid and black powder. She shook it and handed it to Jackie.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It's an explosive concoction I made. I'll tell you the details later. Right now, throw it!" She said.

Jackie looked back again, and threw the container. Star jumped high.

It then impacted the plants, and it broke, creating an orange smoke cloud. Then, in an instant, fire broke out, and the cloud exploded, destroying everything engulfed by it into ash.

Star then landed. Jackie hopped down. They both turned back. There was nothing but ash.

Jackie was amazed. "Wow... what did you have in that?" She asked.

"Oh nothing... just carbonated water, concentrated fire, gunpowder, and orange food coloring with a little bit of enchantment." Star nonchalantly said.

"Amazing." Jackie said.

"I know." Star said. The two then noted their surroundings. There was nothing in sight, except for the gate, the walls surrounding the house and yard, and Marco fighting the tree-like figures. They looked down, and saw that they landed on the roof of the house.

"Whoa... we're on the roof!" Jackie said.

"Regardless, I think we're good." Star said and then turned to Jackie. "Just stay here. We'll get you when we're done." Star said, and then ran back and jumped down. Jackie sighed, and noted her wounds. There were various cuts, slashes, and scars on her body. She had hidden them and fought through the pain as they were retreating.

 _'Damn. Even before and with that explosion, they still hit me with everything they got. I'm lucky that Star didn't notice them.'_ She thought.

She looked around. Once there were no more witnesses, she sat down cross-legged.

"Nothing a little healing won't fix here..." She said, and her hands glowed yellow. her hands then went over her wounds and the glow took effect. By the time she was done, her wounds were now covered in a yellowish light, and it then disappeared, leaving no traces or scars of her wounds.

"Good. Now, all I have to do..." She then took a meditative stance.

"... is wait."

* * *

 **AU: So, I intend to alternate chapter updates with my other Star vs. the Forces of Evil story, Levi & Jackie. If you want to check that out, I'd appreciate it. ****Also, as those who've read the story so far noticed, I've upped the rating of this story to M. I'm doing it just to be safe.**

 **Jackie seems to have hidden abilities she hasn't told Star and Marco yet. What is her backstory? What had happened to her since the duo had left? And what happened to Brittney? All this will unfold as the story goes on.**

 **So, tell me your thoughts on this chapter. Was it good? Was it bad? Was there anything lacking, or anything too much? Tell me on the reviews below.**

 **Until then everyone, I'll see you in the next chapter!**


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